Circus Animals

This article is about a music album. For animals in circuses, see Circus § Animal_acts.
Circus Animals
Studio album by Cold Chisel
Released March 1982
Recorded Paradise Studios, Studio 301, Sydney September - December 1981
Genre Pub rock
Label Elektra
Producer Mark Opitz and Cold Chisel
Cold Chisel chronology
Swingshift
(1981)		 Circus Animals
(1982)		 Northbound
(1983)
Singles from Circus Animals
  1. "You Got Nothing I Want"
    Released: November 1981
  2. "Forever Now"
    Released: March 1982
  3. "When the War Is Over"

Circus Animals is the fourth studio album by Australian band Cold Chisel, released in 1982. It was recorded and mixed at Paradise Studios and EMI Studio 301, Sydney (Sep-Dec 1981).[1] It reached number one on the Australian charts, remaining in the charts for 40 weeks,[2] and also topped the New Zealand charts.[3] The working title for the album was "Tunnel Cunts".[4]

Album details

Many of the album's songs were written as a direct reaction to the pop success of the band's previous LP East and feature unusual, experimental arrangements. Singer Barnes said, "the whole band, particularly Don, decided to revolt against the pop formula when we made Circus Animals."[5] Walker said, "There was no way of improving what we'd done on East, so we had to think of new things to try."[6] Barnes had noted, "It's not way out, not ridiculously experimental. It's all been done before, just not by us."[7]

The "new sound" was described as, "made up of greater rhythmic diversity, looser song structures, that [were] less constricting for live performances"[7] Critics noticed that the, "intricate drum patterns imposed a heavy bottom-end groove."[5] In the lead up to the recording, the band was playing concerts in pubs and clubs in regional centres such as Wollongong and Newcastle. Band members were encouraged to improvise and change song structures. Barnes said, "It was a really loose free-form thing. We were developing and changing the songs every night to suit the atmosphere we were in."[5]

Producer Opitz said of the band's reaction to East, "Don came to me six months later and said, “I never want to have another commercial album again.” Which I thought was really funny, because what the fuck? Don said he didn’t want to do another commercial album, but thank God for Steve Prestwich." [8]

The first single "You Got Nothing I Want" was written by singer Jimmy Barnes about the lack of interest shown in them by their American label rep during the band's 1981 US tour. "Bow River" was a song by guitarist Ian Moss, written about a sheep station in the Northern Territory where his brother Peter had once worked. The song was included as the B-side to one of the album's singles but proved so popular that it was often played on radio in its own right. "When the War Is Over" was written by drummer Steve Prestwich and has been covered numerous times by Little River Band, John Farnham, Uriah Heep, Cosima De Vito and Something for Kate. "Letter to Alan" was dedicated to a former member of the band's road crew, Alan Dallow, who died in a truck accident.

Mark Opitz later said, "We were doing a mountain of coke during the Circus Animals sessions. We would do monster lines of coke and then the band members would go in to do their parts. I remember one time my head turned into a helicopter and I was about to lift off and go through the control room roof."[9]

The album cover was shot by Peter Levy. Barnes said, "This caravan we towed out to Lake Eyre for the photo shoot and when we finished, we left it there. It was about 40 degrees, it was brutal."[10]

Five of the album's ten songs were later covered for the 2007 tribute album Standing on the Outside: "You Got Nothing I Want" (Alex Lloyd), "Bow River" (Troy Cassar-Daley), "Forever Now" (Pete Murray), "Houndog" (You Am I) and "When the War is Over" (Something for Kate).

On Friday 22 July 2011, all of Cold Chisel's albums were re-released as remastered 'Collector's Editions'. They became available for iTunes download for the very first time. The album re-entered the Australian charts for one week, at number 46.[3]

Reception

Circus Animals was listed at No. 4 in the book, 100 Best Australian Albums, in October 2010.[5] In 2011, it was voted the 75th greatest Australian album by industry pundits at Triple J.[11]

Adrian Zupp gave the album a rating of four and a half out of five at allmusic. He described it as, "A ten-song stew of the band's signature guitar-and-piano-driven ballads and rockers [that] further confirmed Chisel's depth and breadth as a creative unit." He went on to describe the highlights as, ""Houndog", a gripping, grueling riff-fest road song; the strip-club, tom-tom beat of the slinky "Numbers Fall"; the bent-halo ballad "When the War Is Over"; and the coup de grâce, the coke-frenzy-rock of the mini-epic "Letter To Alan"."[12]

Critic Toby Creswell described Circus Animals as, "a really extraordinary piece of work, as though John Steinbeck, Henry Lawson, Manning Clarke and Jerry Lee Lewis formed a band." He went on to single out "Wild Colonial Boy", "because it so brilliantly encapsulated the Australian experience," and "Houndog", "because it has a completely mad structure but it too goes to the heart of the Australian wanderlust."[13] Roadrunner claimed the band, "revel in their Australianness, and seem to capture a lot of the hard edge of this country."[14]

The Age also gave a positive review, saying, "I regarded Cold Chisel as over-rated when they first hit the scene with a splash, but they have established themselves as a consistent, powerful outfit, with strong instrumentals, vocals and writing. All these qualities have come together on Circus Animals, for the first time."[15]

Given an "A" rating in Canada's Windsor Star, the reviewer noted, "This is heavy metal at its painful best. Jim Barnes screams like other hard rockers, but never for shallow effect, he has real emotive strength. Guitarist Ian Moss shifts into overdrive with the grace of an Indy professional and Walker's insightful lyrics give the music weight."[16]

Reviewed in Australian Rolling Stone at the time of its release, Circus Animals was described as, "a deeply flawed masterpiece, brilliant not so much in spite of the flaws but because of them." The reviewer went on to say, "from the hot, barren coastal highway to the sloping indifference of Kings Cross, these are Australian blues." Particular mention was made of the song "Wild Colonial Boy", which is said to be, "the most overtly political statement from an Australian rock artist in years."[17]

Track listing

All songs written by Don Walker, except as noted.

Side One

  1. "You Got Nothing I Want" (Jimmy Barnes) - 3:16
  2. "Bow River" (Ian Moss) - 4:23
  3. "Forever Now" (Steve Prestwich) - 4:26
  4. "Taipan" - 3:55
  5. "Houndog" - 5:04

Side Two

  1. "Wild Colonial Boy" - 4:52
  2. "No Good for You" (Moss) - 3:16
  3. "Numbers Fall" - 4:46
  4. "When the War Is Over" (Prestwich) - 4:25
  5. "Letter to Alan" - 5:57

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1982 Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart 1

Personnel

Preceded by
Days of Innocence by Moving Pictures		 Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
10–16 May 1982 		Succeeded by
1982 with a Bullet by Various artists

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Michael Lawrence (1998). Showtime: The Cold Chisel Story. Belmont, Victoria: Michael Lawrence. ISBN 1-86503-118-6.
  2. ↑ David Kent (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 72. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  3. 1 2 "COLD CHISEL - CIRCUS ANIMALS (ALBUM)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Anthony O'Grady (2001). Cold Chisel: The Pure Stuff. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. p. 99. ISBN 1-86508-196-5.
  5. 1 2 3 4 O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.
  6. ↑ "Around the Tracks". Australian Rolling Stone. Randwick, NSW: Silvertongues Pty Ltd (February 1982): pg21.
  7. 1 2 Jane Matheson. "Cold Chisel: Risk-taking is Part of the Game". Australian Rolling Stone. North Sydney, NSW: Silvertongues Pty Ltd (June 17, 1982): pg14–18.
  8. ↑ Doug Wallen. "Icons: Mark Opitz Pt 1". Mess + Noise. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
  9. ↑ Mark Opitz; Luke Wallis; Jeff Jensen (2012). Sophisto-Punk. North Sydney: Ebury Press. pp. 110–111. ISBN 9781742757933.
  10. ↑ Jimmy Barnes (2008). Icons of Australian Music: Jimmy Barnes. Springwood, New South Wales: roving eye. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-9804495-0-1.
  11. ↑ "Industry Results". abc.net.au. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  12. ↑ Adrian Zupp. "Circus Animals". allmusic. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  13. ↑ Toby Creswell (12 October 2011). "Toby Cresswell on Cold Chisel". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  14. ↑ Milne, Bruce (April 1982). "Local Product". Roadrunner. Parkside, SA: 60.
  15. ↑ Mike Daly (8 April 1982). "Nice and easy every time". The Age. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  16. ↑ Ted Shaw (7 August 1982). "Pop". The Windsor Star. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  17. ↑ Toby Creswell. "Cold Chisel rise above the pop circus". Australian Rolling Stone. North Sydney, NSW: Silvertongues Pty Ltd (April 15, 1982): pg65.
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